Lockheed reaches Marietta union pact

New contract ends strike at F/A-22, C-130J plant

By

AugustCole

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- A weeklong strike at Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Marietta, Ga., plant came to an end Tuesday after union members ratified a new three-year contract with the world's largest defense company.

Union leaders called the pact "a compromise by both sides," according to a written statement posted on the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Web site.

The deal lifts a cloud over the facility, one of Lockheed's
LMT, +0.51%
oldest and the home of the new F/A-22 fighter and the C-130J transport plane. About 3,000 workers at Lockheed facilities in Marietta; Meridian, Miss.; and Clarksburg, W.Va., are covered by the contract.

The new contract included a ratification bonus of $1,500 and other "minor modifications" to local working agreements at the Marietta plant, Lockheed said. Overall pension, wage increase and retirement items are the same as the original proposal. Medical-plan costs were to rise modestly, with Lockheed paying 87 percent and workers paying 13 percent, according to information from Lockheed.

The IAM did not offer details on the new contract.

Union members went on strike March 8, not long after midnight.

For Lockheed, ending the picket lines was important because of intense budgetary scrutiny of the F/A-22 and the C-130J, both of which face cuts.

"As we all know, this is a sensitive time in the history of our facility, as we continue to face the possibility of major cuts affecting our core programs. Settling the contract helps," Lee Rhyant, general manager of the Marietta plant, said in a memo distributed to employees.

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